Parenting styles were examined
within college students in order to determine the effect they had on stress
levels and how each related to the family situation.One hundred students (35% men and 65% women) participated in a survey
that determined the parenting style that they had for most of their childhood,
their family situation (intact vs. non-intact), and their stress levels.
Results indicated that stress levels for
students from an intact home were significantly lower than students from
non-intact homes, and that stress levels for students with authoritarian parents
were not significantly higher than those with authoritative parents.Therefore, students from intact homes seemed to be less stressed than
people who came from non-intact homes.

Keywords: parenting style, authoritarian, authoritative

An enormous amount of research has been done on parenting styles over the
years (e.g., Barton & Kirtley, 2012; Baumrind, 1991; Erden & Uredi, 2008; Kordi
& Baharudin, 2010; Terry, 2004). Parents
have a great effect on the entire life of a child.Today the American family might include families made up of divorced,
single, or step parents and their children.With intact and non-intact families, it is essential to understand the
effects on the life of a child in relation to their stress levels, which
determines how they have learned to cope with stress and their risk for physical
disease as stress increases (Uehara, Sakado, Sato, & Toshiyuki, 1999).Previous research states that parenting styles can affect a variety of
factors including self-esteem, academic performance, and mental health.With stress being at its peak during college years, it is important to
understand how parenting style and family situations affect future stress
(Barton & Kirtley, 2012).

Parenting
style is the term psychologists use to describe how parents rear their children
through behavior, discipline, and methods used that influence children (Kordi &
Baharudin, 2010).Baumrind was an
important researcher who extensively studied parenting styles and helped
psychologists learn more about them and how they can be so influential to
children.Baumrind described
parenting styles as a way to “capture normal variations in parent’s attempts to
control and socialize their children” (Baumrind, as cited in Erden & Uredi,
2008, p. 25; Baumrind, as cited in Terry, 2004, p. 87).Parenting styles form within the first year or two of a child’s life
based on how parents react to children and what has worked best for them with
the child (Terry, 2004).Research
shows that the overall parenting style is more influential for determining the
child’s future conduct than the specific behaviors used (Terry, 2004).

Through
Baumrind’s research, two characteristics of parenting styles were found: control
or demandingness and responsiveness or child centerness (Baumrind, as cited in
Klein, O’Bryant, & Hopkins, 1996).
Parental responsiveness refers to the supportiveness and warmth that a child
received, and demandingness deals with behavioral control (Terry, 2004).Baumrind further described demandingness as how parents include children
into the family unit based on their maturity, supervision, and disciplinary
styles and how well a parent can use confrontation when a child is disobedient (Baumrind,
1991).Responsiveness includes the
parent’s ability to specifically strive to nurture individuality,
self-regulation, and self-assertion through parental support for the children’s
distinct needs (Baumrind, 1991; Lazar, Gutmann, & Abas, 2009).

Baumrind
created the three parenting styles commonly used today from those traits:
permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative (Baumrind, as cited in Buri, 1991).A simple definition of each could be described as follows: permissive
parents are low with control and high in responsiveness; authoritarian parents
are high in control and low in responsiveness; and authoritative parents are
high in control and responsiveness (Klein et al., 1996).Overall, the level of parental control and the reason for the control
influences the parenting style (Blondin & Cochran, 2011).Parental control in extreme forms can include overregulation, dictatorial
decisions, and imposing parental beliefs all of which allow parents to
demonstrate their power (Lazar et al., 2009).

Parenting
style affects the development of children’s conduct and characteristics (Blondin
& Cochran, 2011).The three
parenting styles can predict a child’s outcome including social competence,
academic performance, psychosocial development, problem behavior (Terry, 2004),
optimism, confidence, motivation, and attention problems (Kordi & Baharudin,
2010).Parenting styles largely
influence cognitive development and social competence (Dornbusch, Ritter,
Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh, 1987).In general authoritative parenting is associated with positive outcomes,
while authoritarian and permissive parents correlate to poorly adjusted children
including low academic grades and low self-esteem (Terry, 2004).However, the information of parenting styles across different cultures is
inconsistent and may not be the same as American culture.While more research is needed, Asian parents mainly show features of
authoritarian parenting and seem to lack other styles (Kordi & Baharudin, 2010).

Permissive

Permissive
parents are those categorized by making fewer demands of their children,
allowing the children to regulate their behavior, not controlling much, and
using minimal amounts of punishment (Buri, 1991).Furthermore, they are tolerant and accepting of the children’s impulses
and do not demand mature behavior in the process toward self-regulation (Dornbusch
et al., 1987).They can be
exceptionally lenient and immediately take care of a child’s needs and requests
(Svenkerud, 2008).Most often the
children of these parents are immature creating problems in life.Preschool children with permissive parents were found to be immature,
lacking impulse control and self-reliance, and lacking social responsibility and
independence (Dornbusch et al., 1987).

Authoritarian

Authoritarian
parents tend to be demanding and directive but are not responsive to a child’s
needs (Baumrind, 1991).They may
often exercise authority and control by demanding unquestioning obedience, are
detached and express little warmth, discourage verbal give-and-take, and use
corrective disciplinary styles for control (Buri, 1991).Obedience is of upmost importance along with status (Baumrind, 1991).There is no room for questions with their strict ground rules, carefully
arranged environment, and watchful monitoring of behavior (Baumrind, 1991).It is important to note that not all directive or traditional parents
would be classified as authoritarian (Baumrind, 1991).The goal of an authoritarian parent is to shape, control, and evaluate
behavior compared with their standards of demanding obedience, respecting
authority, and keeping order (Dornbusch et al., 1987).High demands, control, and expectations may be a part of the reason
parents tend to be bitter or unresponsive toward children (Svenkerud, 2008).Children of authoritarian parents often lack independence and social
responsibility (Dornbusch et al., 1987).Overprotective, authoritarian parenting styles often lead to children who
are dependent, which produces problems such as depression, alcohol use and
dependence, tobacco dependence, obesity, and eating disorders, and a negative
self-concept (Blondin & Cochran, 2011).

Authoritative

Authoritative
parents are classified as the healthiest parenting style and are between the
other two extremes of parenting styles (Buri, 1991).They are demanding and responsive, assertive but not intrusive or
restrictive, as well as monitoring their children and giving clear standards (Baumrind,
1991).Traits include providing
clear and firm direction, expecting mature behavior, offering definitive
enforcement of rules, using commands, and keeping discipline (Buri, 1991;
Dornbusch et al., 1987).Discipline
is aimed at affording clarity and being supportive with warmth, reason,
flexibility, and verbal give-and-take (Baumrind, 1991; Buri, 1991).There is also a large amount of encouragement for independence and
individuality, open communication, and recognition of the rights of both parents
and children (Dornbusch et al., 1987).Parents want their children to develop and become socially responsible,
self-regulated, cooperative, and assertive (Baumrind, 1991).

Baumrind’s
research indicates that children who experience authoritative parenting tend to
be socially responsible, assertive, competent, and display self-control,
resulting in less problematic behaviors (Baumrind, as cited in Svenkerud, 2008).This parenting style is correlated with positive behavioral outcomes
including increased competence, autonomy, high self-esteem, better problem
solving skills, better academic performance, more self-reliance, less deviance,
and better peer relations (Erden & Uredi, 2008; Terry, 2004).It also has an influence on psychological maturity, which often helps
children perform better in school (Kordi & Baharudin, 2010).Authoritative styles normally lead to positive results such as children
with secure attachments and positive self-concepts (Blondin & Cochran, 2011).These styles are positively correlated to children’s confidence, and
often are negatively related to insecurities and adult stressors (Blondin &
Cochran, 2011).In general,
children can develop better emotionally, socially, and academically (Lazar et
at., 2009).

Parenting Styles and Self-Worth

Parenting styles have been found
influential when determining the self-perceptions adults have of themselves
(Klein et al., 1996).There is a
correlation to positive self-perception and authoritative parenting styles
(Klein et al., 1996). When each parent
was reviewed for parenting styles, children who normally viewed their mothers as
authoritative recalled the same style for their fathers (Klein et al., 1996).Overall, fathers were seen as more authoritarian and less authoritative,
but there was no significant different between parents for permissiveness (Klein
et al., 1996).

Self-esteem
was positively correlated with recalled authoritative parenting (Svenkerud,
2008).Both parents with
authoritarian styles had negative correlations to self-worth, authoritative
parents had a positive relationship to self-worth, and permissive parenting had
a positive relationship to self-worth only with fathers (Klein et al., 1996).In general, authoritative parenting had positive correlations with
self-perceptions while authoritarian parenting had negative correlations (Klein
et al., 1996).When adolescents had
parents who were unresponsive, they normally had lower self-perceptions of
themselves in comparison to those who had parents who were responsive and showed
self-determination (Klein et al., 1996).

Supportive
parenting is positively correlated to high levels of children’s self-esteem and
behavior regulation (Erden & Uredi, 2008).Strict rules where too much control is forced on children can have a
negative impact on their self-esteem, as they were unable to learn to take care
of themselves, which can also effect self-regulation and produce anxiety (Erden
& Uredi, 2008).

With its close
ties to self-esteem, eating disorders can arise due in part to parenting styles
(Tata, Fox, & Cooper, 2001).
Overprotection and poor parent child interactions are associated with low body
satisfaction and eating disorders for girls and women (Tata et al., 2001).Overprotection significantly affects development of body satisfaction for
children more than parental care plays a part (Tata et al., 2001).

Parenting Styles and Gender

There have
been interesting differences found between the gender of the child and the
parent.Women are more positively
affected by parenting styles than men (Dallaire, Pineda, Cole, Ciesla, Jacquez,
LaGrange, & Bruce, 2006; Klein et al., 1996).However, women were more affected by the parenting style of their mothers
and sons were more affected by their father (Barton & Kirtley, 2012).Mothers also interact differently with their children based on gender and
age having the greatest impact on girls in late adolescence (Alsheikh,
Parameswaran, & Elhoweris, 2010; Barton & Kirtley, 2012).Those with authoritative parents were highly developed in social and
cognitive competence (Dornbusch et al., 1987).Girls with authoritative parents were more independent and socially
responsible, while boys showed no difference from other children (Dornbusch et
al., 1987).Women reported a lower
level of authoritarian parenting; older children had higher permissive
parenting; and authoritarian styles decreased as age of the child increased (Dornbusch
et al., 1987).Authoritative styles
for the mother can even have a negative effect on a father’s parenting style
(Barton & Kirtley, 2012).

Parenting Styles and Depressive Features

Parenting
styles had an affect on depressive features in children.They affected the dysfunctional attitude of the child rather than their
cognitions (Randolph & Dykman, 1998).Researchers found it was important to examine the family structure of
depressed children because most children with major depressive disorder have
experienced symptoms by age fourteen (Dallaire et al, 2006).Along with parenting styles, stressful events, and negative parental
feedback also played a role in depressed children (Cole, Ciesla, Dallaire,
Jacquez, Pineda, LaGrange, Truss, Folmer, Tilghman-Osborne, & Felton, 2008).Children, particularly up to age seven, may believe that negative traits
could become more positive over time; however, as they get older children often
believe that the attitudes of others are the same as their own (Cole et al.,
2008).During a stressful time,
parental interactions predicted an alteration in depressive symptoms of children
(Cole et al., 2008).The depressed
child could negatively view the way they were cared for, which created a worse
perceived parenting style than actually took place (Randolph & Dykman, 1998).Depressed children often viewed their parents as weak in care, support,
affection, and forcing authority too much (Randolph & Dykman, 1998).

Beck posited a
theory of how negative parenting styles could lead to creating a dysfunctional
attitude for children which left them susceptible for depression (Beck, as cited
in Randolph & Dykman, 1998).Within
depressed children, fathers were perceived to demand perfection more often, to
be more critical, and to be less caring than mothers who were viewed as more
overprotective (Randolph & Dykman, 1998).While mother and father scores for parenting styles were sometimes
collected individually, when predicting dysfunctional attitudes, combining
scores was more accurate (Randolph & Dykman, 1998).When parents were restrictive, girls often developed self-critical
attitudes rather than aggressive attitudes (Randolph & Dykman, 1998).Low levels of support and high levels of negative parenting related to
high rates of depressive symptoms (Dallaire et al, 2006).It was found that when mothers gave off negative emotions, children would
internalize their programs creating a greater risk for depression; however,
there was no correlation between children’s positive emotions when mothers
displayed positive emotions (Eisenberg, as cited in Dallaire et al, 2006).Authoritative parents reported much less depressive symptoms than for
children of authoritarian parents (Dallaire et al, 2006).

Parenting Styles and Attribution Styles

Attribution
style or how a person thinks cognitively has been found to relate to parenting
styles and other negative life situations; children who have a more pessimistic
idea about life are more often affected by negative life events (Rueger &
Malecki, 2011).The bigger
influence a parent has in providing support to a child, the greater the
likelihood that they will have lower levels of depression by the time they reach
adolescence, which may act as a mediator between stress and the child’s
attribution style (Rueger & Malecki, 2011).Social support has been found to help people physically and
psychologically even through negative times and may protect against depressive
symptoms (Rueger & Malecki, 2011).
Not all studies agree, but there has been some evidence that supported ideas
that parents only helped with lowering depression for girls (Rueger & Malecki,
2011).There was a correlation
between the attribution styles of children and parental support on the level of
depressive symptoms, mainly for boys who had a pessimistic attitude and were
under great stress (Rueger & Malecki, 2011).Girls benefitted positively from parental support regardless of the
amount of stress they were facing, which may be important because at a young age
children do not have the skills to think adaptively when dealing with negative
situations (Rueger & Malecki, 2011).

Parenting Styles and Academic
Performance

Parenting
styles also can affect adolescent school performance (Dornbusch et al., 1987).For instance, authoritative parenting styles related to high academic
achievements, but authoritarian and permissive styles related to lower grades (Kordi
& Baharudin, 2010).The two styles
that impacted grades negatively suggest that demandingness had the most effect
on GPA scores (Alsheikh et al., 2010).Along with parenting styles, family cohesion was also positively related
to school performance (Alsheikh et al., 2010).In addition, parents, who had high expectations for their children, had
children who achieved better in school (Alsheikh et al., 2010).Children with higher levels of education were more likely to have had an
authoritative parenting style (Dornbusch et al., 1987).

Parenting
styles influenced self-regulated learning strategies and helped with school
achievement (Erden & Uredi, 2008).
Students with authoritative parents used more self-regulated learning strategies
than other parenting styles (Erden & Uredi, 2008).By responsively creating an environment where individuality can thrive,
authoritative styles helped children learn to use self-regulated learning
methods (Erden & Uredi, 2008).
Self-esteem of children was related to how children adapt self-regulated
strategies, and because strict behavior may decrease self-esteem, it was
important that parents had authoritative tendencies, and they were accepting of
psychological independence for children (Erden & Uredi, 2008).Authoritative parenting styles helped produce children who were more
self-efficient and had less test anxiety (Erden & Uredi, 2008).

Parenting Styles and College Adjustment

There was a
positive relationship between perceived parenting styles and psychological
behaviors or acting out in college (Terry, 2004).College students today experience a high amount of stress with one
study suggesting 53 percent having some form of depression (Barton & Kirtley,
2012).It was believed that
parenting styles related to college adjustment:authoritative styles predicted better adjustment and less depression,
authoritarian styles related to anxiety and depression for women, and permissive
styles led to less anxiety and depression (Barton & Kirtley, 2012).Most researchers agree that the parenting style of the mother played a
stronger connection to the child’s future outcome (Barton & Kirtley, 2012).College women who had authoritarian or permissive mothers often were
impulsive and had drinking problems, and permissive mothers were positively
correlated to a sense of privilege among children (Barton & Kirtley, 2012).However, permissive fathers affected their son’s impulsive and alcoholic
behavior, and authoritative styles were negatively correlated to the same
actions (Barton & Kirtley, 2012).
Stress and anxiety were found to be medians between parenting styles; thus, a
negative parenting style brought out more negative emotions for children and
later in life (Barton & Kirtley, 2012).

Parenting Styles and Family Type

American
families today are no longer determined through the traditional two-parent
system and instead are often mixed with parental separation, divorce,
single-parent homes, stepparents, and blended families (Barber & Eccles, 1992).Family types differed by status (divorced or intact), and family status
affected development and functioning (Baumrind, 1991).In 1992, the rates assumed that over 50 percent of children born in the
1980s will live with one parent for a year rather than with both, and 35 percent
will live with a stepparent for at least part of their life (Barber & Eccles,
1992). It
is often thought that children from non-intact homes have parents with negative
parenting styles and end up with several behavioral problems.Some research suggested the truth of these statements.Girls from intact families were often more social and had less problems
and drug use than children of single parents or stepfamilies (Baumrind, 1991).Adolescents from single-family homes did use more drugs than their peers
from intact families (Baumrind, 1991).By a large majority, single families were less demanding and not as
engaged in their children’s lives (Baumrind, 1991).Boys from single authoritarian parent homes were less cognitively
competent than peers (Barber & Eccles, 1992; Baumrind, 1991).Girls from intact homes used less drugs and were better at not
internalizing their problems (Baumrind, 1991).Authoritarian parenting styles were negatively related to physical
aggression in children (Svenkerud, 2008).

Despite
studies that focus on overwhelming problems for children on non-intact families,
the differences between divorced and two-parent families are small and tend to
decrease over time as stressors such as income, occupation, or parental conflict
are controlled (Barber & Eccles, 1992).Children from single families are as competent as their peers from intact
homes (Baumrind, 1991).The
problems of divorce appeared to not be inevitable and can be prevented with the
smoothest transition possible (Baumrind, 1991).The parenting style of the parent regardless of their marital status may
be more important; children from intact, unengaged homes were as competent as
their peers from single homes (Baumrind, 1991).One study holds that the differences a few years after divorce were not
significant (Baumrind, 1991).
Beside the short time after divorce that causes stress and conflict, most
children from divorced families continue to function normally (Barber & Eccles,
1992).Some research indicates
children of non-intact families had low levels of self-esteem and competence,
but it appeared that these differences declined (Barber & Eccles, 1992).There are small differences between the children of different family
situations, but they often disappear after confounds are controlled (Barber &
Eccles, 1992).

Parenting Style, non-intact Family
Situations, and Adjustment

Parental
authority can be defined as the ability for the parent to force children into
certain behavior because it is judged to be to their benefit (Lazar et at.,
2009).Within normal two parent
homes, authority is considered necessary, but today parents can be hesitant to
demonstrate their authority, which changes the structure of the parent child
relationship, and children begin to question authority (Lazar et at., 2009).Divorce is a key reason that the structure changed, and divorced mothers
often exert authority less than married mothers (Lazar et at., 2009).With degraded boundaries after divorce, single mothers often shared
financial and personal concerns and anger and complaints about the ex-husband to
their children (Lazar et at., 2009).Research showed a positive relationship between authoritative parenting
styles and the adjustment of children from intact families (Lazar et at., 2009).Sharing too much with children sometimes results in the children
suffering social and psychological difficulties, which made the adjustment even
more problematic (Lazar et at., 2009).Married mothers who are also deemed authority-prone had difficulties with
their children’s social adjustment, while divorced mothers had children who have
more personal problems than their married counterparts (Lazar et at., 2009).Part of the reasons may stem from the need for children to have their
mothers and for them to be attentive and supportive to their needs, but
authority-prone mothers are unable to provide these desires leaving the children
feeling psychologically abandoned (Lazar et at., 2009).

With parents
who exhibit authoritarian styles, parents are more restrictive, less supportive,
and had more difficulties with their relationship with their spouses and
children (Baumrind, 1991).
Authoritative parenting styles tend to relate to a higher level of family
cohesion (Terry, 2004).One
particular study found reports for children who 47% were from married parents,
27% had parents who were never married, and 26% had parents that were divorced (Dallaire
et al, 2006).This study reports
that negative parenting styles were related to depressive symptoms in their
children (Dallaire et al, 2006).
Single mothers and single fathers individually tended to demonstrate higher
levels of permissive parenting (Dornbusch et al., 1987).Single mothers were specifically less authoritarian for boys, and single
fathers were less authoritarian for girls and less authoritative for boys (Dornbusch
et al., 1987).Stepfamilies tended
to be more authoritarian, more permissive, and, for boys only, less
authoritative (Dornbusch et al., 1987).

Stress

Stressful life
events are thought to affect potential for disease as a person feels overwhelmed
by the stress and when it is more than they can handle (Cohen & Janicki-Deverts,
2012).Stress can be important to
understand because it can help with risk for behavioral disorders or disease
(Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983).Negative feelings can also influence the physical problems stress can
cause, which influence psychological problems (Cohen & Janicki-Deverts, 2012).Objectivity of stress can be difficult because it is often determined by
perceptions of stressfulness for individual people (Cohen et al., 1983). Stress
occurs when an event is believed to be threatening or demanding or there are
inadequate resources to allow for a person to effectively cope with the
situation (Cohen et al., 1983).It
can also be influenced by personal factors of the event (Cohen et al., 1983).

High stress
levels are associated with high biological age, high cortisol levels, higher
susceptibility for disease because immune functioning decreases, slow wound
healing, and poor health practices including few hours of sleep, not eating
breakfast, and drinking more alcohol (Cohen & Janicki-Deverts, 2012).Stress may also put people at greater risk for depression, cardiovascular
disease, upper respiratory infections, autoimmune diseases, and earlier death
(Cohen & Janicki-Deverts, 2012).
Stress is found to be higher for women than men, young adults, and those from
low socioeconomic status (Cohen & Janicki-Deverts, 2012).Stress increased as age, education, and income decreased (Cohen &
Janicki-Deverts, 2012).Older
adults or those who were retired also reported less stress, which may be because
they perceived events as less stressful, and they have learned better coping
strategies (Cohen & Janicki-Deverts, 2012).

Parenting Styles and Stress

Parenting
styles greatly influence children’s psychology tendencies and can even predict
future adult stressors (Blondin & Cochran, 2011).They can further affect children’s ability to cope with stress (Uehara et
al., 1999).Low care from the
mother and practices of overprotectiveness were variables that can predict
emotion-oriented coping strategies and were correlated to depression (Uehara et
al., 1999).Coping is defined as
“the cognitive or behavioural reaction to stressful situations or difficulties
in order to reduce the effects of stress” (Uehara et al., 1999, p. 197).Dysfunctional parenting leading to stress coping seems to link parenting
styles to depressive disorders or psychological stress after a child becomes an
adult (Uehara et al., 1999).

Hypotheses

The purpose of
the study was to compare how parenting styles along with the family situation
correlated to stress in college students.The present study had three hypotheses.First, if students perceived their parents to have had a negative
parenting style (e.g., authoritarian) when they were children, then they will be
more stressed than students of more positive parenting styles (e.g.,
authoritative).Second, students
from non-intact families will be more stressed than students of intact families.Finally, students from non-intact families will have had different
parenting styles than students from intact families.

Method

Participants

The samples of participants
were volunteer students from a small, private, midwestern university.One hundred students participated in the survey.Classrooms were chosen based on availability and the number of students
in a class.Surveys were given in
the classrooms if the students were willing to take it.The study included 35 men and 63 women and two did not respond.
Eighty-two participants were aged 18-21,
14 were aged 22-28, three were 29-40, and one did not respond.There were 45 students whose parents were married, 16 had divorced
parents, one had parents who were separated, 37 had parents that were never
married, and one did not respond.
Participants were a part of four different classrooms with a range of majors and
years in school.“Data were
collected in accordance with the ethical standards of the American Psychological
Association” (American Psychological Association, 2010).

Materials

A survey was used to collect data that
were adapted from two normed and validated measures.
Demographic information and two
questions asking about the nature of the family type (i.e., divorced parents,
reared by another relative) were included in the survey.

Parental
Authority Questionnaire. Buri
developed the Parental Authority Questionnaire in 1991.It is composed of thirty questions with ten relating to each parenting
style that Baumrind described: permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative.Participants rated how well they agree or disagree with the statements
based on a five-point likert scale with one being “strongly disagree” and five
being “strongly agree.”

Buri’s
Parental Authority Questionnaire and others have validated the three parenting
styles proposed by Baumrind (Buri, 1991).The Parental Authority Questionnaire was narrowed down from 48 questions
when a panel rated each question to see how well it fit the parenting style, and
the thirty questions that were agreed upon were used (Buri, 1991).Other groups that took the survey over two-weeks helped validate the
survey (Buri, 1991).The
reliability of the survey as well as its relation to my topic is why I chose
this survey to use.It is important
to note that the survey was normed using a sample of subjects from intact
families (Buri, 1991).Here creates
the interest of parenting styles in non-intact families and how they can affect
people.

Perceived
Stress Scale. Cohen developed the
Perceived Stress Scale in 1983.It
contains fourteen questions that ask about levels of stress.Participants rated how often they felt uneasy about a particular topic
relating to stress in the last month.For instance, one questions asks, “In the last month, how often
have you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly?” (Cohen,
1983).The scale used was a
five-point likert scale with one being “never” and five being “very often.”

Procedure

The researcher went into a classroom or talked to a group of students in
the residence halls.Participants
were explained to that the survey was voluntary but that it would aid research
for a class.Participants were
given the survey to complete their responses.They circled responses on the survey.When they were finished, the surveys were collected.The participants were debriefed and thanked for their time.

Results

The three hypotheses were tested statistically to find out if the data
were supported.The first
hypothesis was that if students perceived their parents to have had a
negative parenting style (e.g., authoritarian) when they were children, then
they will be more stressed than students of more positive parenting styles
(e.g., authoritative).In order to
test this hypothesis, an independent samples t-test was performed between stress
and the authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles.The independent samples t-test analysis comparing stress level for
students with authoritarian or authoritative parenting styles indicated that the
authoritarian parenting styles (M=40.13, SD=9.11) were not significantly higher
than the students from authoritative parenting styles (M=37.35, SD=8.26), t (89)
= 1.468, p = 0.073.In other words,
students with negative parenting styles were not more stressed than students who
had positive parenting styles.

Next, the
second hypothesis stated that students from non-intact families would be more
stressed than students from intact families.Another independent samples test was performed.The independent samples t-test analysis comparing student stress levels
to if the students came from intact or non-intact homes indicated that stress
levels of students from intact home (M=36.62, SD=8.71) were significantly lower
than students from non-intact home (M=39.91, SD=8.12), t (97) = -1.939, p =
0.0275.In other words, the
students from intact homes were more stressed than students from non-intact
homes.

Finally, the
last hypothesis held that students from non-intact families would have had
different parenting styles from students from intact families.
The independent samples t-test analysis
comparing authoritarian parenting styles to if the students came from intact or
non-intact homes indicated that intact family students (M=32.12, SD=7.26) were
not significantly different than students from non-intact home (M=34.08,
SD=6.41), t (90) = -1.372, p = 0.174.The independent samples t-test analysis comparing authoritative parenting
styles to if the students came from intact or non-intact homes indicated that
intact family students (M=36.53, SD=5.83) were not significantly different than
students from non-intact home (M=35.67, SD=7.61), t (93) = 0.609, p = 0.544.
In other words, no parenting style was
affected or different based on if the home was intact or non-intact.
In addition, the independent samples
t-test analysis comparing stress levels for men and women indicated that women
(M=39.52, SD=9.25) were significantly higher than men (M=36.54, SD=6.81), t (96)
= -1.670, p = 0.049.Thus, women
were found to be more stressed than men.

Discussion

The first
hypothesis was that if students perceived their parents to have had a negative
parenting style (e.g., authoritarian) when they were children, then they will be
more stressed than students of more positive parenting styles (e.g.,
authoritative), and it was not supported.The independent sample t-test showed that there was not a significant
difference between stress levels of students from authoritarian or authoritative
parents, nor that the stress levels of those from authoritarian parents were
significantly higher than authoritative parents.However, students from authoritarian parents were more stressed than
those of authoritative parents, but at a significance level of 0.07, it was not
significant.It is possible that
with a larger sample size better results could have been found.From these results it can be concluded that parenting style does have an
effect on stress levels, but it may not be as significant as one may assume.It would be beneficial to show parents how to become aware of their
parenting styles or even to teach them positive parenting styles in order to
further decrease stress in the future.

The hypothesis that students from
non-intact families will be more stressed was supported.The independent sample t-test demonstrated that students who came from an
intact family were less stressed than those from a non-intact family.These findings may have an effect on the way that families structure
their household.It may be possible
that families with step and single parents can provide positive, clear
boundaries that help keep the family intact even without a traditional idea of
family.

Finally, the
hypothesis that students from non-intact families will have had different
parenting styles from students from intact families was not supported.Students from intact families did not have a significantly different
parenting style than students from non-intact families.These findings suggest that the structure of the family does not change
the parenting style, and a non-intact home will have no affect on creating a
negative parenting style.Further
findings showed that women have higher levels of stress than men.These results are consistent with previous research and may mean that
women are more affected by a negative parenting style because they are already
more stressed than men.

There were
several limitations within the present study.For instance, the sample size was small, from a private university, and
was from a convenient sample.With
so many students from nearly the same age group and similar regional areas, it
is difficult to generalize any of the results.Also, there were a very limited number of participants who experienced a
permissive parenting style.With a
lack of representation from the permissive parenting style, it is impossible to
make any generalization about it or compare it with the authoritarian and
authoritative styles.In addition,
the survey questions used to interpret whether the student came from a home that
was intact or non-intact were unclear making the determinations inaccurate.Some homes may have been classified incorrectly, which would have altered
the results.

Further
research should be performed on parenting styles in relation to family structure
in terms of intact or non-intact.
Family structure could possibly even determine a parenting style that has not
been observed previously when all homes consisted of one mother and one father.The way in which the family structure and parenting styles relate to the
stress levels of students in the future may help determine how to better teach
parents the skills they need to help their children.It may be possible that with effective strategies parents can counteract
the effects of a non-intact home by using more effective parenting styles or
other techniques not previously researched.

Cohen, S., & Janicki-Deverts, D.
(2012). Who's stressed? Distributions of psychological stress in the United
States in probability samples from 1983, 2006, and 2009. Journal
of Applied Social Psychology, 42(6),
1320-1334.